Estimated 319,400 Deaths From Rheumatic Heart Disease in 2015

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 23, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- In 2015 there were an estimated 319,400 deaths due to rheumatic heart disease, with a reduction in global age-standardized mortality from 1990, according to a study published in the Aug. 24 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

David A. Watkins, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues conducted a systematic review of data on fatal and nonfatal rheumatic heart disease for 1990 to 2015. The Cause of Death Ensemble model and DisMod-MR 2.1 were used to produce estimates of mortality and prevalence.

The researchers found that there were an estimated 319,400 deaths due to rheumatic heart disease in 2015. From 1990 to 2015 there was a 47.8 percent decrease in global age-standardized mortality due to rheumatic heart disease, with large differences seen across regions. Oceania, South Asia, and central sub-Saharan Africa had the highest age-standardized mortality due to and prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in 2015. There were an estimated 33.4 million cases of rheumatic heart disease in 2015, and 10.5 million disability-adjusted life-years due to rheumatic heart disease worldwide.

"The health-related burden of rheumatic heart disease has declined worldwide, but high rates of disease persist in some of the poorest regions in the world," the authors write.